(Review) - Logitech continues to expand its G series of gaming products with G9, the latest super gaming mouse for hardcore gamers. The company nails the design once again with a black, mystic exterior, and an interesting design with a host of programmable buttons. With Logitech, customization is where it's at, and surely the G9 is no different in that regard. In addition to the programmable buttons, you can also customize the on board LED lights to work with specific profiles. For instance, with Logitech's Setpoint 5.0 application, you can set up to 5x profiles, and all of these profiles can be programmed to display different colors to alert you, the user, about their status. The profiles could be accessed manually or automatically, which is a very neat feature. Another noteworthy feature to remember with the profile settings is that the mouse will actively remember these profiles (dpi settings, keyboard macros and LED lights) regardless of the PC you are using. Now that's amazing.

The G9 is also a very sleek, slim mouse that expands quite a bit on its sides. The thumb space is actually welcoming and the overall feel of the mouse was even more impressive. The mouse fitted well in our hands. Quite snuggly! Then there's the effortless glide of the unit combined with adjustable sensitivity, laser engine, MicroGear precision and weight adjusting that made using the G9 all the better. Logitech introduced a similar mouse a while back, the G5, and it appears as though the company is dead set on beating its own record with a highly customizable design. One thing is clear, though. Logitech is in competition with itself, just like Apple, and it doesn't care about the rest of the industry. For consumers, that's one thing to notice in a great company.

You have up to 28 grams of weight to work with. Unfortunately, the cartridge is somewhat difficult to access. You have to remove the top shell of the G9 to access it, instead of pressing on the access button on the G5 to pop it open. But it shouldn't be too much of a concern, considering that many of you won't be playing with the weights often. The scroll wheel on the mouse is similar to the one found on VX Revolution. It can operate on a standard per-click rotation, or free mode where if you spin it once, it will spin continuously. We really enjoyed the free mode option when it was first introduced, as it made scrolling through long documents much easier. Unfortunately, though, switching between the two modes is slightly tedious. You have to pick up the mouse, turn it upside down and then switch between the two modes with the integrated button. Oh, well, we can't complain too much about this.

In our performance tests, G9 worked flawlessly. Everything from precision to smooth gliding to customization options (even dpi resolutions can be selected from 300dpi to 3200dpi for a total of four modes), we loved it all. What would have been even better was to have the G9 as a wireless mouse. Seriously, wired mice are so not sexy these days. C'mon Logitech, let's stick with the program here, shall we?

For $79.99, it's a relatively inexpensive device. Logitech is like the Apple of peripherals, sleek, self-competitive and most importantly, consumer-friendly. If you are a serious gamer, there's nothing better than Logitech's G9 for your gaming needs. Just make sure you are right-handed.